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Wry Yorkshire poet is favourite as next laureate

SIMON ARMITAGE has emerged as the favourite of the literary Establishment to succeed Andrew Motion as poet laureate, but he may yet lose out because of pressure to appoint the first woman to the post. Rivals include Carol Ann Duffy, 53, whose work is widely regarded as the most popular of any living British poet, and Jackie Kay, 47, who was once her lover.

Armitage is understood to have been backed by Motion as well as the Poetry Society and the Royal Society of Literature.

Their views were sought by Andy Burnham, the culture secretary, who will make the final recommendation to Downing Street and the Queen.

Burnham, an English literature graduate who specialised in poetry, wants the winner to concentrate on popularising the art. He has been lobbied to select the first woman in the 340-year-old history of the post. Past postholders include William Wordsworth, Alfred Tennyson and John